Does anyone actually buy this stuff?

Matthewfalle

Right,

Went looking for a couple of carbon bottle cages.

Control tech retail at £65.99 each at CRC. Yes, £65.99 each. Ok, now that are in the clearance at £18, which is barely palatable, but would anyone actually dream of paying £66, £50 or even £30 for a bottle cage?

If was was P/X and their "random make it up" pricing I could understand the initial retail price, but CRC are generally kosher.

Same applies across the range for most cycling stuff.

Am bemused.

Discuss.

shortfall

Yes there is a market for this stuff. The main manufacturers focus on the weight of their products because they know there is an obsession with weight amongst the buying public. Whether the people spending ridiculous sums to save every grammes can actually exploit any real world gains from these savings is moot. I'm not suggesting that heavier bikes are better before someone puts words in my mouth, but spending 60 quid on a carbon bottle cage or 10 grand on a 5kg bike isn't necessarily going to make you any faster either. In fact the chances are that it won't. The real gains come from training hard, eating right and being dedicated. But it's personal choice I suppose and we're probably all guilty of wanting a bit of pointless blng, me included.

Matthewfalle

Agree completely on the training side of stuff, but if someone did spend £66 on one bottle cage are they a tad underwhelmed when opening the box?

I like a bit of bling which is why I have bought two of them for the s/s - at £17 each that's still steep for what they are but it's just palatable as it's my birthday so I treated myself.

I tend to wait until ridiculously expensive stuff turns up in the sales: my Selle Italia 80g saddle - down from nigh on £400 to £80. FSA carbon cranks from £380 to £70. Same for my Fulcrums.

Just wondering if people actually do pay the silly money for this stuff.

shortfall

I expect they probably do, and if they can afford it why not? More fool them if they think it's going to translate into them going any faster though.

keef66

Well I'm a Yorkshireman, so I don't. I wouldn't pay £60 for a bottle cage if I'd won the lottery. It would feel like I was having my leg lifted.

And I don't worry about weight, apart from mine. I've got steel framed leather saddles on both bikes. Comfort and practicality / durability are at the top of my list of priorities. Bling or weight saving don't feature at all.

markhewitt1978

People spend hundreds on gold chains which look awful, this is no different.

fat daddy

I firmly believe that the lighter the bike the better it is ... certainly more fun to ride and throw around ..... but £66 on a cage .. no way am I spending money to add stuff to my bike.

I don't have a cage, or the screws on any of my bikes it saves more weight that way !

mrfpb

I payed full price for an Arundel carbon cage - left handed, so it became right handed on my seat tube. It looks nice. think it cost £30.

Also I got it with a new bike, so it didn't seem that expensive at the time.

Garry H

You could'vebought 8 (eight) pairs of quality merino boot socks for the full price of one of those cages and still had six quid left to buy cabbages. Just sayin'.

Matthewfalle

You just sayin' the truth. And to me it don't hurt.

Imagine eight (8) pairs of brand new merino socks waiting for you at home. So many you could even keep one as a special sock and the other of the pair to match up with the one you'll be left with when the washing machine undoubtedly eats one.

benws1

If you want to see ridiculous spending, just look at what some people will spend per month on a car.

We looked at a new Volvo late last year. Finance came up at £560 per month, with a £5k deposit and a big balloon payment three years later. The price soon put us off.

When we queried the 9.9% finance, we were told that is normal and people usually just pay it. Cripes!

Disclaimer - it isn't any of my business what others spend their money on. I just don't see the point in spunking hundreds and hundreds a month on crazy finance deals, to then have to pay thousands and thousands three years later.

homers_double

I think the carbon cages on my Trek were about a fiver apiece.

The may be plastic with a bit of wrapping (I dont know...) but light as anything, they look good, are far better than what I need and the weight is a moot point anyway.

flasher

Who cares, there are price ranges from low to high on virtually every purchasable item from food to jewellery, why worry about what others spend their money on.

timothyw

Carbon bottle cages are such a rubbish place to save weight - they really are pretty much the last thing you should be spending your budget on.

Your bog standard aluplast bike cage is 40g - http://www.zefal.com/en/bottle-cages-al ... t-124.html

Most carbon fibre cages quote about 30g. 20g saving for £40 is most definitely not worth it.

Especially when you can pick up polycarbonate and plastic cages that also weigh 30g for a fraction of the price eg http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BCSEPCA/se ... ottle-cage

Carbon fibre cages are fashion accessories.

Still, plenty of cash gets spent on fashion, so if that's what you want to do, do it.

Matthewfalle

But they look smart so that's 2mph more top end PROVEN FACT as Trump would say.

As if it's the finishing touch on your bike then go fill your boots, that's what I say.

chris_bass

i just finish a bit less hydrated and put a little less water in my bottle! job done!

mamil314

TimothyW wrote:

C

Especially when you can pick up polycarbonate and plastic cages that also weigh 30g for a fraction of the price eg http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BCSEPCA/se ... ottle-cage

Carbon fibre cages are fashion accessories.

Still, plenty of cash gets spent on fashion, so if that's what you want to do, do it.

Will this keep bottle in during 6 hours of Paris-Roubaix?
Arundel Mandible is popular for a reason. There might be cheaper options that are as good, but the general tone set here is despicable. Generalizing is almost as bad as dropping 'Discuss.' like a bone for dogs to fight over.

ben@31

Shortfall wrote:

but spending 60 quid on a carbon bottle cage or 10 grand on a 5kg bike isn't necessarily going to make you any faster either. In fact the chances are that it won't.

Coincidently I was thinking about this at the end of my commute today as I was stripping all the bits and pieces of my bike.
The full water bottle, lights set, saddle bag with puncture repair kit and multitool all must add a few Kg back onto the bike. And there's no point buying that lightweight frameset unless you a superlight groupset and wheels.
I can imagine a superlight bike would be good if you've a team car driving behind you with everything you need for the day.

Matthewfalle

mamil314 wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

C

Especially when you can pick up polycarbonate and plastic cages that also weigh 30g for a fraction of the price eg http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BCSEPCA/se ... ottle-cage

Carbon fibre cages are fashion accessories.

Still, plenty of cash gets spent on fashion, so if that's what you want to do, do it.

Will this keep bottle in during 6 hours of Paris-Roubaix?
Arundel Mandible is popular for a reason. There might be cheaper options that are as good, but the general tone set here is despicable. Generalizing is almost as bad as dropping 'Discuss.' like a bone for dogs to fight over.

No, but fortunately my commute for which I am using the s/s with its massively discounted bottle cages is only 5 hours 55, so all cool.

Horses for courses, innit: I wouldn't use my s/s for P/R so its a moot point.

Matthewfalle

Flasher wrote:

Who cares, there are price ranges from low to high on virtually every purchasable item from food to jewellery, why worry about what others spend their money on.

Not worried, just intrigued. There's a difference.

Matthewfalle

Garry H wrote:

You could'vebought 8 (eight) pairs of quality merino boot socks for the full price of one of those cages and still had six quid left to buy cabbages. Just sayin'.

Oooh - cabbages on special in Croesyceiliog I noticed today....... If I wasn't going away I'd have picked up a bundle for the kiddies.

mr_mojo

I do, I have two Colnago's both with a pair of Colnago carbon bottle cages at £50 each. Building my third Colnago and this will have a pair of Colnago cages too so a total of £300 in water bottle cages. For me how a bike looks is equally as important to how it rides so if I fitted any other cages I would not have been happy.

flasher

Matthewfalle wrote:

Flasher wrote:

Who cares, there are price ranges from low to high on virtually every purchasable item from food to jewellery, why worry about what others spend their money on.

Not worried, just intrigued. There's a difference.

Why intrigued? It stands to reason that if you can afford nice stuff you can buy it if you wish.

Plenty of people have large amounts of disposable income. I remember seeing a young guy pick up his new bike from Sigma sport, he had to drop the top of his convertible Lamborghini to get it in! There was some serious tutting going on but I'm sure most were secretly jealous.

Hinaultscrapcousin

Flasher wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Flasher wrote:

Who cares, there are price ranges from low to high on virtually every purchasable item from food to jewellery, why worry about what others spend their money on.

Not worried, just intrigued. There's a difference.

Why intrigued? It stands to reason that if you can afford nice stuff you can buy it if you wish.

Plenty of people have large amounts of disposable income. I remember seeing a young guy pick up his new bike from Sigma sport, he had to drop the top of his convertible Lamborghini to get it in! There was some serious tutting going on but I'm sure most were secretly jealous.

Did anyone give him a hand?

flasher

No, but I should have offered to drive his motor home so he could test ride his new bike

Hinaultscrapcousin

Flasher wrote:

No, but I should have offered to drive his motor home so he could test ride his new bike

What was the bike? I've only been past Sigma once (near Hampton Court Palace right?) and they had a very nice Eddy owned Merckx in the front Window.

flasher

Can't remember the bike, too busy looking at the Lambo

Yes Hampton Wick, lots of serious bike porn for those with deep pockets.

Hinaultscrapcousin

My mate was getting married down there, did look very fancy but was closed.

drwae

I'm waiting for 2 carbon bottle cages to come that I ordered on eBay from China for a total cost of £2.88 ...

FatTed

drwae wrote:

I'm waiting for 2 carbon bottle cages to come that I ordered on eBay from China for a total cost of £2.88 ...

First ride hit a small bump and the bottles all over the road, lucky no one was hurt.

Matthewfalle

FatTed wrote:

drwae wrote:

I'm waiting for 2 carbon bottle cages to come that I ordered on eBay from China for a total cost of £2.88 ...

First ride hit a small bump and the bottles all over the road, lucky no one was hurt.

30 seconds with some insulting tape and job jobbed. Invisible amendment to bottle cage, £66 saving.

Win win.

Or those little sticky pads. Pop on inside of cage. Job jobbed.